Druids
by SareG
Summary: Eight teens who aren't what they seem or think they are, fighting against something unknown... Moved from klinanime1's account
1. Default Chapter

Intro by the ever annoying, Klin (aka klinanime1) This is SareG's stuff. She finally wrote something… Anyhow, this will be added on to eventually. If she continues. Don't blame me for anything except maybe the intros. I have no idea what the pairings will be (Or if there will be any), but rumor has it she kills everyone off.  ^_^

~*~

The visions began when she was sixteen. 

Raye wandered through the forest groves of her dreams. The cool pines swept aside respectfully as she passed. This was where she always came when she needed to escape the harsh world of reality.

As she looked around at the familiar trunks of the foliage that she had looked at for most of her life. Suddenly, her eyes grew large and she realized that something had changed. Drastically changed. The air was still. No sounds of happily chirping birds or the rustling of other small animals in the undergrowth filled the air, causing a certain motionlessness in the air that signified danger. 

Raye paused, sniffing the air of her dreamland carefully. "Blood," she breathed as she inhaled the metallic scent. Raye was about to cry out when her attention was distracted by something new and brilliant.

A few dozen yards to her right a small stream was glinting in the sunlight. Now distracted from the disturbing smell of blood in the air, Raye headed over to this novelty. As she neared the stream, Raye wondered to herself, "It's so bright. Where's the light coming from?" And indeed, the light seemed to radiate from the water itself.

But water didn't come into the picture. Raye sat down at the edge of the small river and, awed, tried to run her hand through the gleaming water. When she drew her hand out of the stream, though, it wasn't wet.

"A river of light!" Raye gasped, tumbling backwards.

While Raye continued to stare at the dazzling bright "water," something much darker flowed into the stream, casting a shadow on her face. The acrid smell of blood that Raye had smelled earlier returned in full force, much stronger than before, filling her head with its stench.

Raye, curious now about the dark substance staining the flowing light, thrust her hand back into the river. When she pulled it back again, she had a hard time keeping back the ear-splitting scream that was ringing in her head. Her hand was now covered in blood.

The girl jumped away from the tainted river with a yelp and started sprinting away. Raye ran for ten minutes, trying to put as much land in between her and the light-river. As she ran, all she was aware of was her own heavy breathing. If she had stopped for a moment, she might have noticed the sounds coming from the clearing not twenty feet from her. 

As it was, Raye ran headlong into the clearing and headlong into a group of the warriors, armed to the teeth and looking kind of annoyed…


	2. Intro

This is a brief overview of the history and background of druids. It probably should have come before the first installment of my story, but I hope that it will help clear up a few things as the story goes on. You may find this kind of boring, but it's really necessary to fix some misconceptions that may be out there later. Just bear with me

~*~

There were four races in the ancient world, three of which have all but died out now. There were the elves, the druids, the Merthandels and humans. All of these races except humans have extremely powerful magic. The elves and the druids are all but gone now; just a few with mixed blood remain. Of course, there were only a few hundred of the druids in the world at the peak of their existence. 

It is often believed that all druids are the religiously trained magicians of medieval times, but originally (at least for the benefit of this story) druids were a race of their own, gifted with the powers of the elements. These "original druids" were feared as witches and killed in cold blood, requiring secrecy and concealment. There were also a select few with other powers, such as the "sight", which allowed you to see into the past or the murky future, and other, very specific powers that set them apart. The elements that the druids controlled were fire, water, earth, sky, and ether, the element of stars. In being tied t o these elements, druids are able to turn into associated creatures. No two druids are capable of turning into the exact same creature so there are no stereotypical animals to go along with the element.

The other druids that exist with special powers are no more or less dominant than the elemental druids. The first of these special powers is the lore. There are a few druids born with the knowledge of all the druids that came before them. The sight I've already explained, and the last unique power is the ability to change into any animal in order to aid his or her cause.

Now, I have to talk about the war that went on between these great races. Seven centuries ago a great war transpired between these nations. The elves and the druids fought against the Merthandel in the bloodiest war the world has ever seen. Humans finally saw fit to intervene and the elves and druids retreated to the forests in the east and the Merthandel moved to the Merthan mountains. All three races had to mate with humans to keep their races alive. There is a rumor, however that there may be a full druid alive today.

The Merthandel have not forgotten their grudge, even after all these years. There forces are gathering even now, and all those with even a hint of Merthandel blood are hearing the whispers calling them together to serve.


End file.
